The present invention concerns a method of fabricating pressed components from steel sheet that can be heat treated while inside a press.
Components, especially components for the automotive industry, are increasingly being fabricated of sheet steel or steel structural section pressed and hardened in the press itself.
These steels may for example be composed of (in weight precent)                carbon C 0.19-0.25        silicon (Si) 0.15-0.50        manganese (Mn) 1.10-1.40        titanium (Ti) 0.020-0.050        boron (B) 0.002-0.005        aluminum (A) 0.02-0.06        phosphorus (P)<0.025        sulfur (S)<0.015        chromium (Cr)<0.35        molybdenum (Mo) 0.35the remainder constituting iron (Fe), including contamination from smelting.        
European Patent 1 300 476 A6 discloses fabricating such components from plates and structural section. There is, however, a drawback to this method. The plates and section must be heated to at least 750° C. in a continuous furnace before they can be inserted in the press. The process is accordingly complex and the equipment complicated.